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Japan's largest airline wants America to know why it's awesome

Nov 17, 2016, 16:30 IST

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All Nippon Airways

All Nippon Airways or ANA is Japan's largest airline with fleet of more than 250 aircraft flying more than 50 million passengers a year.

It's also one of the most respected in the world- as one of just nine airlines to hold Skytrax's highly coveted five-star designation.

Unfortunately for ANA, most flyers in the US probably don't know who they are.

Which is why the airline is working hard to improve the level of awareness its brand has among US consumers, ANA's head of communications for the Americas, Tadashi Matsushita, told Business Insider in an interview.

When it's all said and done, "ANA wants to be the preferred airline for travel between the US and Japan," Matsushita added.

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To get the show on the road, the airline is teaming up with world-renown DJ Steve Aoki in a new marketing campaign called "Welcome to the Experience Class".

"We want to redefine the word 'class' on an airplane," Matsushita said. "The journey is just as important as the destination and everyone should experience the same 'Experience Class' regardless of where they sit on the plane."

AP

ANA is launching the campaign to show off the airline's high-class service, in-flight accommodations, and exotic destinations with a video featuring Aoki. In addition to the video, the award-winning DJ will curate special Spotify playlists for the airline's customers.

According to ANA, the campaign will expand over the next couple of years to include partnerships with other fashion and cultural influencers along with Aoki and Spotify.

Through this campaign, All Nippon Airways wants to reach the heart of America's airline customer base - millennials and baby boomers between the ages of 20 and 55, Matsushita told us. More specifically, the business traveler who is looking for culture and fun or the leisure traveler who is looking for inspiration and adventure, the ANA executive added.

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Why North America so important for All Nippon Airways

For ANA, flying passengers to and from North America is a significant piece of the airline's business - 32% of its international revenue for 2015 to be exact. And it's a part of the business ANA would like to see grow.

In fact, the Tokyo-based carrier's ambitions lie beyond the North America to Japan routes.

The award-winning airline would like to build its home base at Tokyo's Haneda and Narita Airports into a gateway- connecting North America with the billions of potential passengers in East and Southeast Asia.

AP

However, these days, competition in the airline business is brutal. According Matsushita, not only does ANA have to contend with local rival Japan Airlines, it also has to battle America's three mega carriers (American, Delta, and United) for trans-Pacific business.

At the same time, ANA must also compete against such Asian airline heavyweights as Cathay Pacific and Singapore along with the Persian Gulf's Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways.

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"The competitive environment is getting intense, but with our superior product, services, and attention to detail, we are confident that once our message is out, we will have the competitive advantage," Matsushita said.

Here's ANA's new video featuring Steve Aoki:

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